Chapter 33 Ill at ease

Brenda moaned as she felt the soreness rush through her again. She was definitely more sore this morning than she was last night. She opened her eyes taking in her surroundings, she felt his arm still around her tightly, it had been there the whole night. Brenda couldn't believe she actually slept though the night. She remembered having flash backs and nightmares of when she got held up at gun point for weeks before she was able finally sleep peacefully. She was still shaken up but being there with Dylan sure helped her not think about it every second.

"You awake?" Dylan whispered as he stared at the ceiling.

"Yeah…you?" Brenda whispered back.

"Yup I have been." Dylan shifted a little and scooted down so his head was to her level and he turned to his side. "You ok?"

"Why didnt you wake me?" Brenda whispered cuddling in a bit more.

"I couldnt...you were laying on me." Dylan joked.

Brenda lifted her head to give him a playful dirty look, "I am kidding, I thought you needed the rest." Dylan said sweetly.

"Thank you...I mean for last night" Brenda looked down resting her head on him again.

"Stop thanking me." Dylan smiled shyly, "You know I love you."

"I know you do." she said softly.

Dylan stared at her, he saw her bruised cheek and cut on her lip again and anger rushed over him again, "I am glad you are ok. I don't know what I would do…Bren if I hadn't made it there in time or if he would have hurt you more." Dylan thought the worst.

Brenda smiled lightly and understood what he meant. She herself couldn't put into words just how lucky she had been. She had hoped Dylan would know how grateful she was towards him. Especially because they hadn't exactly ended their relationship on good terms or even on good terms that night.

The silence grew between them, both wanting to kiss each other but both held back. Dylan thought it was the wrong time, the last thing Brenda probably wanted was a guy trying to kiss her or get physical with her even if sex wasn't on Dylan's mind at the moment.

Dylan took a deep breath, "I was going to call Brandon and see if he will go with me to pick up the car…but why don't you come, I don't want you to be here alone.'

Brenda shook her head, "No I will be ok."

"I don't want you to be alone Bren…for me?"

"Dylan…I'd rather not. I have to be at rehearsal at 3:30 and I would rather not get into things with Brandon."

"Bren." Dylan sighed.

"Please…you can explain things to him, just going through it will bring it back to life and he will freak out and I would rather just move on and consider myself lucky I was attacked and not raped." Brenda stared at him as her eyes watered.

Dylan nodded, "Ok…but are you sure about rehearsal, I mean cant you tell them your sick or something?"

Brenda smiled, "it doesn't work like that. I will have to explain something to Roy about my face but I don't intend to announce to the world what happened to me. I have to go…opening night is in 3 weeks."

"Roy?" Dylan looked at her confused, he hadn't heard that name in years.

"Yeah…Roy Randolph he is directing the play…isn't that great." Brenda didn't have much enthusiasm in her voice but Dylan new how amazing of a director he was.

Dylan bit his lip gently, "Yeah…it should be great then." Dylan had mixed feelings about Roy, he had never done anything to him but he knew Brenda and him had been close. He knew she owed her acting education on him. He was flirty and suave and…maybe Dylan was just being overly protective. Even though Roy and Brenda had never been more than student…teacher, it always seemed that Roy had opportunities for Brenda and even though not done purposely Dylan subconsciously resented Roy because he seemed to be the only man that could honestly take Brenda's attention from him... and her physically.

Dylan and Brenda stared at each other for several moments. Brenda held back from kissing him, from telling him how she felt about him. It wasn't the right time and she thought he would think it was because of what had happened to her. Brenda swallowed hard as she saw Dylan slowly lean into her. Here is was he was going to kiss her, Brenda closed her eyes and felt his lips touch her forehead. Damn, Brenda thought.

Dylan got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. Brenda sighed grabbing the pillow and moving it over her face as she groaned softly.

**

David moved his hand down his face as he slowly walked into the kitchen.

"Hey Bran." David said sleepily reaching for a coffee mug and pouring himself a cup.

"Hey." Brandon looked deep in thought as he stared down into his coffee cup.

David looked at him oddly, "What are you doing man? You're creeping me out."

Brandon shook his head gently, "Sorry, just thinking and half asleep."

"Did Dylan ever call you? Where the hell did he bring your car?" David said grumpily

"No…I haven't talked to him." Brandon shook his head, "I have learned over the years I have known Dylan, to just not ask questions because 9 out of 10 times you won't get a straight answer anyway."

"How can you deal with that?" David shook his head joining him at the kitchen table.

Brandon eyed David, "David…I have no idea what your problem with Dylan is but whatever it is should be squashed."

David was about to say something as the phone rang. The truth was David wasn't exactly sure why he was still so angry with Dylan. Dylan did have a point, David was the one who put the moves on Brenda and slept with her but David couldn't shake his hostility toward him. The only thing David could think of was jealousy plain and simple and that was something David wasn't going to admit to anyone.

"Hello." Brandon said answering the phone.

"Hey Bran…glad you answered."

Brandon looked at David, "Oh hey D, everything cool?"

"Yeah…everything is fine, can I come and get you. We left Brenda's car down at the beach apartment last night and if you ride with me you can take your car back and I can bring Brenda's car here."

"Yeah…that's ok, why did Brenda leave her car down there?" Brandon now knowing the reason Dylan left so quickly was because of Brenda.

"I'll tell you later. I will be there in 30, is that enough time?"

"Yep…see you bro." Brandon hung up and went to get dressed. Now it made sense. The only person that could make Dylan bail out like he did was Brenda.

**

"Thanks B…I appreciate you coming with me." Dylan said pulling out onto the main road from David's house.

Brandon shook his head and shrugged, "No problem." Brandon looked over at him, he seemed rushed and in a hurry. Brandon figured he probably would tell him what was going on and with Brenda and Dylan, who knows.

"So you're probably wondering why I bailed out on you guys last night. Left you stranded without a ride…."

"The thought has crossed my mind."

Dylan took a deep breath, "I got a call from Donna last night that the girls had a fight or something happened that upset Brenda enough to take off. The girls were worried because Brenda had been drinking."

Brandon looked intently at him, "Anyway I took the car because I had planned to just go get her, she said she wouldn't drive but when I got to her car it was empty."

"Dylan? What is going on, is Bren ok?" Brandon started to worry.

"Oh yeah…she is ok." Dylan took another deep breath, "She was attacked last night Bran, she got bruised up pretty good but she is ok, just a little sore."

"Oh my God…What happened?" Brandon's eyes grew bigger.

"I am not exactly sure but she went into a store and was attacked from behind and dragged into a near by alley. I just know when I got there I heard her scream and I ran and…well beat the shit out of the guy."

"They caught him? What did he want money?"

"They did catch him." Dylan looked over at Brandon and hesitated, "He tried to rape her." Dylan swallowed hard, even saying it sent the creeps through his body.

Brandon sat there and looked down, "But she is ok…he didn't…"

"No…I guess I got there just in time…she wanted me to just tell you so she didn't have to. She really hasn't told me the details and I don't think she will. I mean she knows I am here but she really does seem ok. Banged up, shaken up but she is holding it together."

Brandon shook his head, "God…poor Bren."

The boys sat quiet for several minutes until Dylan spoke up trying to change the subject, "So how was your night? Did the guys enjoy themselves?"

Brandon looked out the window, "Yeah…we all had a good time."

Dylan looked over at Brandon, he had a weird tone and seemed to be hiding something. "What's up?"

Brandon shook his head, "It's just…do you know Kelly's boyfriend well?"

Dylan shook his head, "No…not at all I have probably talked to the guy a total of 3 times…why?"

"Never mind." Brandon sighed.

"What…Bran, obviously something happened."

"After you left, the guys got drunk at a nearby bar and we ended up back at the strip club, let's just say Matt didn't exactly come home with us." Brandon looked over at Dylan.

Dylan's eyes got big, as he bit his lip, "He cheated on her huh?"

"He was with one of the girls a lot, he got a lap dance and it was pretty innocent but of course we closed the place down and when it came to leaving he left with her."

"The guy has balls I give him that." Dylan raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well…I mean, you are an ex, Steve is close friends with Kel, David is her brother, and Noah is dating her roommate. I mean he can't expect he would get away with it."

Brandon took a deep breath, "They don't know…Matt took off before any of them had come outside and I just told the guys he was sick and left." Brandon shook his head with an uncomfortable smile.

"Jesus Bran…don't get involved."

"I know…I shouldn't…you're right. Coming from me it would just look bad. Right?"

Dylan looked over at Brandon and took a deep breath, "You still care about her huh?"

Brandon nodded slowly looking down, he slowly looked over at Dylan, "I more than care about her."

**

Kelly folded the blankets that were left over from the slumber party. Gina had still not spoken to her since the night before. The whole night was literally a disaster, after Gina had gotten angry and went to her room, Kelly and Valerie continued to argue until Donna got sick of hearing them and went to bed also. Poor Janet sat there probably regretting her decision to even want to be part of this childish group. There was someone though that made her smile a bit. She walked over to the phone and dialed Matt. She waited for an answer but after not getting one his voicemail started…

"Hi you have reached Matt Durning, leave me a message after the beep and I will get back to you as soon as possible, have a pleasant day." Beep.

"Hey Matt…I hope you guys had more fun then we had last night. Anyway just thinking about you, call me you get this, bye sweetie." Kelly closed the phone and took a deep breath. She knew he had to work today, maybe she would surprise him with a yummy lunch.

Ok soooo since the last couple chapters were so full of craziness, this one probably came across a bit boring but I needed to sort of wrap up the aftermath of it all. Things are going to go by a bit faster now, this whole story has only been from November to February and look at all the stuff that's happened. Next up is Valentines day…secrets may come out, couples may not be spending it together and people that aren't coupled may spend it together and big plans may be ruined. Stay tuned : )